Bad Medicine

From left to right – Governor of Indiana Eric Holcomb (R), Governor of Michigan Gretchen Whitmer (D), Governor of Massachusetts Charlie Baker (R), Governor of New Jersey Phil Murphy (D)

Having daily life upended by the presence of a new virus is rough for all of us. Tyrannical governors and mayors drunk with power in some states are making it much worse. The number of in situ state officials across the country who are openly revealing their imperious instincts and shocking ignorance of federal and state Constitutions is stunning. These pompous potentates are writing completely absurd statewide or citywide rules that add no value to the existing national COVID-19 guidelines. They are being shamefully opportunistic in their roles as local government leaders and are vastly underestimating the intellect and sensibilities of their constituents. Most importantly, they have miscalculated the thirst for retribution that arises when Americans’ personal freedoms are oppressed even for short periods.

Predictably, and in our view justifiably, this has led to an increasing number of peaceful yet vigorous protests against these officials. At present, this is most visible in the state of Michigan, where some of the Governor’s actions there are bordering on totalitarianism. Here is one example (taken directly from Executive Order 2020-42 signed by Governor Whitmer):

After April 10^th, travel between two residences in the state (of Michigan) is not permitted.

There exist some “allowed” exceptions to this rule, but the rule was clarified to include such activities as simply walking across the street to check in on a neighbor. Violations of this directive are considered misdemeanors in the state of Michigan and carry a penalty of up to 93 days in jail.

The public response to Governor Whitmer’s ludicrous directives is starting to look eerily like the precursor of a rebellion. In the last few days, four state law enforcement officers in Michigan (State Sheriffs) publicly proclaimed they will not honor the Governor’s edicts and instead use their own “common sense”. This is how government coups and civil wars get started.

How self-aware are these governors of the simmering anger they are inciting beneath the skin of an already frazzled constituency? It appears not at all. The façade they put on of having been persuaded by disease experts that we are on the edge of a true apocalypse, a genuine life and death situation for everyone, is a pitiful excuse. They have further miscalculated that absurd curtailing of civil liberties under the guise of paternalistic protection is likely to be endured by a cowed citizenry. Apparently, their vast experience with apocalypses gives them all the legitimacy and insight they need. Their actions are both ridiculous and alarming.

We have laws and constitutions (state and federal) that include provisions for governing in emergency situations. It is not up to locally elected officials to deem a crisis so bad that these laws don’t matter anymore. And it is certainly not acceptable to use the mask of mitigating a life and death scenario to enact rules and regulations that are rooted in an ideological agenda, and not truly lifesaving.

The inevitable result of local officials acting well outside an established framework of authority in the name of a “crisis”, are gross inconsistencies in how ad-hoc regulations they create are applied. The imposition of rules restricting religious gatherings is a case in point. The Governor of Indiana presented a classic example of this when he recently listed, in excruciating detail, the forms of religious observance that would be permitted and not permitted in his state. Here are just a few examples taken directly from the website of Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb:

1. In instances when communion is distributed, only prepackaged communion may be used and must be prepared and distributed in a manner that meets food safety standards.
2. Vehicles should contain only members of a single household. Do not bring your neighbors or others outside of your household.
3. Cars must be spaced the equivalent of every other parking spot or approximately 9 feet apart.

Greenville Mississippi Mayor Errick Simmons went even further by not allowing people to sit in their cars with the windows rolled up and listen to a radio broadcast of church services. The leaders of several churches across the country are now bringing long overdue legal challenges against these inconsistent rules. One thing these baseless edicts against religious gatherings all have in common is that they abridge the first amendment to the US Constitution¹. State Governors and/or Mayors do have extraordinary powers in times of crisis, but ignoring the national Constitution is not among them.

At a higher level, some states have restrictive rules that fly in the face of other permissive activities in that same state. For example, the above mentioned strict distance rules applied to church parking lots in Indiana do not apply to grocery store parking lots in Indiana. In the state of Massachusetts, there is now a ban on non-essential elective surgeries. Included in this ban are procedures such as: Excision of cancerous skin lesions, colonoscopies, hip and knee replacements, and tooth extractions. However, elective abortions are exempted from this ban. That’s right – you can’t get your skin cancer treated, but you can get an abortion. It is laughable to suggest that one of these procedures poses a grave risk for spreading COVID-19 and the other does not.

Finally, at least one Governor made no bones at all about the primacy of his capricious COVID-19 rules in his state. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said “I wasn’t thinking of the Bill of Rights when we did this” in reference to the legality of his executive orders for social distancing. We knew there were a few closet socialists holding elected office in this country. But until now none of them so openly and directly flaunted the Constitution (as well as their own ignorance). While he may have hidden his true nature in order to get elected, Murphy has bared his soul as being nothing more than a minor despot. COVID-19 is allowing him and other Governors like him to act out their unsophisticated instincts as oppressors. It’s a disgusting trait in any human being, and exactly opposite the intent of our American form of government.

It is often stated that a crisis can bring out the best in some people. We are seeing this admirable trait at the national level within the President’s COVID-19 task force including his collection of health advisors. Additionally, we experience it personally every day as we see our neighbors joining together to support the elderly and vulnerable in our communities with telephone checks, cheering communications, errands run, etc. The opposite is occurring with several state government leaders, who come off as rank amateurs on a power trip. And while most of the offenders tend to be Democrats with socialist leanings, there are a few notable Republicans in this despicable group as well.

To be fair, not all Governors and Mayors are behaving this way. Now that new national guidelines have been announced providing a face-saving pathway out of this lunacy, we shall see in short order which state level officials emerge as truly patriotic and responsible leaders. We will also see which elected officials reveal themselves to be petty tyrants, who in their lust for a frisson of power and importance, will stoke fear and resentment in the constituents they pretend to serve.

¹ The 1^st sentence of the 1^st amendment of the US Constitution (which extends to state law as well as “Congress”) – “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof”.